ICT news

• BetterHelp Sold Customer Data While Promising It was Private, Says FTC

  02-03-2023 23:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Online counseling company BetterHelp has agreed to pay $7.8 million to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission that it improperly shared customers' sensitive data with companies like Facebook and Snapchat, even after promising to keep it private. The Verge reports: The proposed order, announced by the FTC on Thursday, would ban the same behavior in the future and require BetterHelp to make some changes to how it handles customer data. According to the regulator, the sign-up process for
  
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• Linux Desktop Powers Consider Uniting For an App Store

  02-03-2023 23:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Now, leaders from the GNOME Foundation and KDE Foundation, along with Debian Linux, are considering [...] building an app store on top of Flatpak, a universal Linux software deployment and package management program. This idea of replacing traditional but not very friendly ways of delivering Linux desktop apps, such as DEB and RPM package management systems, has been around for a while. Besides being easier to use, Flatpak and its rivals, such as A
  
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• Biden Administration Releases National Cybersecurity Strategy

  02-03-2023 22:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Biden administration is promising to hold software developers and critical infrastructure to tougher security standards and apply more pressure on ransomware gangs as part of its first national cybersecurity strategy, released Thursday. From a report: The nearly 40-page document provides a roadmap for new laws and regulations over the next few years aimed at helping the United States prepare for and fight emerging cyber threats. The strategy -- which was crafted by the two-year-old Office of
  
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• US-CERT and ICS-CERT Transition to CISA

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA retired US-CERT and ICS-CERT, integrating CISA’s operational content into a new CISA.gov website that better unifies CISA's mission. CISA will continue to be responsible for coordinating cybersecurity programs within the U.S. government to protect against malicious cyber activity, including activity related to industrial control systems. In keeping with this responsibility, CISA will continue responding to incidents, providing technical assistance, and disseminating timely noti
  
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• FBI and CISA Release #StopRansomware: Royal Ransomware

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) #StopRansomware: Royal Ransomware to provide network defenders tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with Royal ransomware variants. FBI investigations identified these TTPs and IOCs as recently as January 2023.
  Royal ransomware attacks have spread across numerous critical infrastructu
  
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• Cisco Releases Security Advisory for Cisco IP Phones

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  Cisco has released a security advisory for vulnerabilities affecting the 6800, 7800, 7900, and 8800 Series of Cisco IP Phones. A remote attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. For updates addressing lower severity vulnerabilities, see the Cisco Security Advisories page.
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisory and apply the necessary updates.
  Cisco IP Phone 6800, 7800, 7900, and 8800 Series Web UI Vulnerabi
  
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• CISA Urges Increased Vigilance One Year After Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  CISA assesses that the United States and European nations may experience disruptive and defacement attacks against websites in an attempt to sow chaos and societal discord on February 24, 2023, the anniversary of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. CISA urges organizations and individuals to increase their cyber vigilance in response to this potential threat.
  In response to the heightened geopolitical tensions resulting from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CISA maintains public cyb
  
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• CISA Releases Decider Tool to Help with MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA released Decider, a free tool to help the cybersecurity community map threat actor behavior to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Created in partnership with the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute™ (HSSEDI) and MITRE, Decider helps make mapping quick and accurate through guided questions, a powerful search and filter function, and a cart functionality that lets users export results to commonly used formats.
  Network defenders, analysts, and researchers
  
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• CISA Red Team Shares Key Findings to Improve Monitoring and Hardening of Networks

  02-03-2023 22:21 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA released a Cybersecurity Advisory, CISA Red Team Shares Key Findings to Improve Monitoring and Hardening of Networks. This advisory describes a red team assessment of a large critical infrastructure organization with a mature cyber posture. CISA is releasing this Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) detailing the red team’s tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and key findings to provide network defenders proactive steps to reduce the threat of similar activity from malicious cyb
  
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• Binance Can't Keep Its Story Straight on Misplaced $1.8B USDC

  02-03-2023 21:41 via slashdot.org
  
  A new and detailed investigation by Forbes has raised significant questions about the management and custody of customer assets and stablecoin collateral by Binance. From a report: There are many possible explanations for the nature and intent of certain on-chain transactions highlighted by Forbes, and they could be entirely innocuous. But Binance's so far confused and sometimes contradictory responses to the findings do not inspire confidence, particularly in a post-FTX era of rightfully widesp
  
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• Video Games Are a New Propaganda Machine for Iran

  02-03-2023 21:02 via games.slashdot.org
  
  The state sponsors titles that cast it in a favorable light and punish indies for depicting a more complex vision of Iranian identity. From a report: Commander of the Resistance: Amerli Battle is a first-person shooter set in Iraq. Launched in 2022, the game pitches players against Islamic State militants laying siege to a town, based on a real-life event that took place in 2014. Its hero -- the commander of the title -- is a real-life figure too: Qasem Soleimani, a major general in the Islamic
  
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• Scientists Prove Clear Link Between Deforestation and Local Drop in Rainfall

  02-03-2023 20:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  For the first time researchers have proven a clear correlation between deforestation and regional precipitation. Scientists hope it may encourage agricultural companies and governments in the Amazon and Congo basin regions and south-east Asia to invest more in protecting trees and other vegetation. From a report: The study found that the more rainforests are cleared in tropical countries, the less local farmers will be able to depend on rain for their crops and pastures. The paper, published in
  
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• Bank May Go Bust Due To FTX Collapse

  02-03-2023 19:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader smooth wombat writes: Late Wednesday night, Silvergate Capital informed the SEC it won't be able to file its annual report on time, and is determining if it can continue to operate. Unlike most traditional banks which have steered clear of crypto, Silvergate is a dominant lender to the crypto industry.The La Jolla, California-based bank reported a $1 billion loss for the fourth quarter as investors panicked over the collapse of FTX, the exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fr
  
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• Australia Prepares for a Power Grid Without Spinning Turbines

  02-03-2023 19:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Australia is preparing for its next step away from fossil fuels by creating a market to replace the spinning coal plant turbines that help stabilize the power grid. From a report: The government's adviser on energy policy, the Australian Energy Market Commission, is consulting on a rule change for a spot market in inertia provision, it said in a statement on Thursday. Australia's world-leading usage of wind, solar and batteries has led to "new and previously unobserved operational conditions," i
  
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• Microsoft's Licensing Offer Likely To Satisfy EU on Activision

  02-03-2023 18:21 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft's offer of licensing deals to rivals is likely to address EU antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision, Reuters reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter said, helping it to clear a major hurdle. From the report: Microsoft announced the Activision bid in January last year, its biggest ever, to take on leaders Tencent and Sony, in the booming videogaming market and to venture in the metaverse which is virtual online worlds where people can w
  
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• The End of the English Major

  02-03-2023 17:41 via news.slashdot.org
  
  During the past decade, the study of English and history at the collegiate level has fallen by a full third. From a report: Humanities enrollment in the United States has declined over all by seventeen per cent, Robert Townsend, the co-director of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Humanities Indicators project, found. What's going on? The trend mirrors a global one; four-fifths of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation reported falling humanities enrollments in the past
  
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• UK Argues AI Is No More of an Inventor Than Your Cat

  02-03-2023 17:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  If an artificial intelligence machine can be named as an inventor for a patent, pet cats could be next, lawyers said at the UK's top court arguing only humans can be inventors in law. From a report: The UK's Supreme Court will decide whether an AI machine can be named as an inventor and who may own the patent. Imagination Engines founder, Stephen Thaler, challenged the rejection of his patent applications naming his AI machine as inventor for a beverage container and a flashing light. Allowing a
  
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• Millions of Americans Nearing Retirement Age With No Savings

  02-03-2023 16:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Millions of Americans nearing their golden years are still financially unprepared for retirement. From a report: According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 50% of women and 47% of men between the ages of 55 and 66 have no retirement savings. According to AARP, nearly 57 million Americans work for an employer that does not offer a retirement savings plan.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Apple Blocks Update of ChatGPT-Powered App

  02-03-2023 15:44 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has delayed the approval of an email-app update with AI-powered language tools over concerns that it could generate inappropriate content for children, according to communications Apple sent to the app maker. The software developer disagrees with Apple's decision. From a report: The dispute shows the broad concerns about whether language-generating artificial-intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, are ready for widespread use. Apple took steps last week to block an update of email app BlueMa
  
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• China Leads US in Global Competition for Key Emerging Technology, Study Says

  02-03-2023 15:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  China has a "stunning lead" in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies as Western democracies lose a global competition for research output, a security think tank said on Thursday after tracking defence, space, energy and biotechnology. From a report: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said its study showed that, in some fields, all of the world's top 10 research institutions are based in China. The study, funded by the United States State Department, found the United State
  
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• USPS Starts Nationwide Electric Vehicle Fleet

  02-03-2023 14:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBS News: The U.S. Postal Service's plans for a nationwide fleet of electric vehicles are getting closer to being realized. The service awarded contracts on Tuesday for 9,250 battery electric vehicles and for more than 14,000 charging stations. The vehicles purchased are Ford E-Transit Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), which according to USPS are "100 percent electric." It's part of the agency's plans, announced in December, to make 75% of its newly acqui
  
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• NASA's DART Data Validates Kinetic Impact As Planetary Defense Method

  02-03-2023 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  After analyzing the data collected from NASA's successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) last year, the DART team found that the kinetic impactor mission "can be effective in altering the trajectory of an asteroid, a big step toward the goal of preventing future asteroid strikes on Earth." The findings were published in four papers in the journal Nature. From a NASA press release: The first paper reports DART's successful demonstration of kinetic impactor technology in detail: reconstru
  
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• Is United Launch Alliance About To Be Sold?

  02-03-2023 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares a report from Ars Technica, written by Eric Berger: One of the world's most important rocket companies, United Launch Alliance, may be sold later this year. The potential sale has not been disclosed publicly, but three sources confirmed to Ars that potential buyers have been contacted about the opportunity. These sources said a deal is expected to be closed before the end of this year and that investment firm Morgan Stanley and consulting firm Bain & Company are managing the t
  
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• Airbnb Is Banning People Who Are 'Closely Associated' With Already-Banned Users

  02-03-2023 04:30 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Airbnb is banning people from using its site because of their mere association with other users the short-term rental company has deemed a safety risk and removed from the platform, a decision that highlights the imperfect security protocols that Airbnb employs. In instances where a user is banned because of their association with another user deemed problematic, the user can only return to the platform if their problematic acquaintance succe
  
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• Scientist Finds Rare Jurassic Era Bug At Arkansas Walmart, Kills It and Puts It On a Pin

  02-03-2023 03:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader theshowmecanuck shares a report from CBS News: A 2012 trip to a Fayetteville, Arkansas, Walmart to pick up some milk turned out to be one for the history books. A giant bug that stopped a scientist in his tracks as he walked into the store and he ended up taking home turned out to be a rare Jurassic-era flying insect. Michael Skvarla, director of Penn State University's Insect Identification Lab, found the mysterious bug -- an experience that he says he remembers "vividl
  
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• First PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs Are Now Available, Predictably Expensive

  02-03-2023 02:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  The first PCIe 5.0 SSDs are slated to ship this year with massive heatsinks and predictably high prices. Tom's Hardware reports: There are multiple M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSDs slated to ship this year, and the first model looks to be the Gigabyte Aorus Gen5 10000, which as the name inventively implies can deliver up to 10,000 MB/s. Earlier rumors suggested the drive would be able to hit 12,000 MB/s reads and 10,000 MB/s writes, so performance was apparently reigned in while getting the product ready for r
  
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• BitTorrent Seedbox Provider Handed Criminal Conviction Over Users' Piracy

  02-03-2023 01:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A man who rented out servers configured for BitTorrent file-sharing use has been handed a three-month suspended sentence in Denmark. Known as 'seedboxes', these pre-configured servers are not illegal per se, but when customers used the devices to break copyright law on known pirate sites, rightsholders held the server provider liable. TorrentFreak reports: Local anti-piracy group Rights Alliance (Rettigheds Alliancen) mitigates all types of piracy but for the past few years, has maintained a kee
  
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• 'Havana Syndrome' Not Caused By Energy Weapon or Foreign Adversary, US Intelligence Says

  02-03-2023 00:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The mysterious set of symptoms known as "Havana syndrome" was not caused by an energy weapon or foreign adversary, US intelligence has concluded. The assessment concludes a multi-year investigation into approximately 1,000 "anomalous health incidents" (AHIs) among US diplomats, spies and other employees in US embassies and missions around the world. Victims reported brain injuries, hearing loss, vertigo and strange auditory sensations, among
  
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• Free Weebly Legacy Plans With Custom Domains Are Being Discontinued. Now Pay Up.

  02-03-2023 00:08 via news.slashdot.org
  
  mmiscool writes: Email notices went out today to legacy users of Weebly's free web site hosting service. In the early days of Weebly (before being gobbled up a credit card processing company only concerned about money) you could create a very basic web site for free and point your own custom domain at Weebly to have a relatively painless web site. Now there were lots of add-ons and extra features you could pay for like shopping carts or interactive forms but you were never required to pay for th
  
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• Nearly 40% of Software Engineers Will Only Work Remotely

  02-03-2023 00:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  dcblogs writes: Despite the demand of employers like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, AT&T and others, nearly 40% of software engineers preferred only remote roles, and if their employers mandated a return to the office, 21% indicated they would quit immediately, while another 49% said they would start looking for another job, according to Hired's 2023 State of Software Engineers. This report gathered its data from 68,500 software engineering candidates and a survey of more than 1,300 software engi
  
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